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John Herdman made five changes to the starting XI that beat Costa Rica in Friday’s semi-final, resting No. 1 goalkeeper Erin McLeod along with captain Christine Sinclair, midfielders Sophie Schmidt, and Diana Matheson and striker Deanne Rose. In a meaningless final it made sense to get some young players — notably Nichelle Prince and Rebecca Quinn — experience against the Americans. But on paper, the changes Canada’s chances at a win.

Misplays

Women’s World Cup hero Carli Lloyd had the United States’ best chances of the first half, the opportunities exposing repeatedly poor marking and positioning from Canada’s right side. Near unmarked cross from the Americans were twice played into Lloyd. The Houston Dash player overpowered her NWSL teammates Allysha Chapman on both occasions but couldn’t get the ball across the line, keeping the Canadians in the game.

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Breakthrough

The red, white and blue continued its strong press after the break, and it didn’t take long before the United States was up. Canadian keeper Stephanie Labbé misguidedly darted out toward a ball in by defender Becky Sauerbrunn, leaving her out of position to defend a flick on by midfielder Lindsey Horan. A slip by defender Kadeisha Buchanan, who was also going for the ball, didn’t help matters.

Substitutes

Herdman started moving to a stronger version of his squad little more than 10 minutes into the half, bringing in Schmidt and Matheson for Rebecca Quinn and Rhian Wilkinson. The substitutions shored up Canada’s right side and offered another threat up front. Sinclair joined the game in the 63rd minute, but it was a move that seemed to come too late; the United States was already up 2-0 through a Tobin Heath goal.

Saviour

Left-back Chapman kept the scoreline respectable with minutes to play, throwing herself in front of a strong shot from Heath in the 87th minute. The shot, taken at the back post, would have surely beaten Labbé had Chapman not stepped up big, keeping the scoreline at a more respectable, and palatable, 2-0. Chapman would later be named to the tournament’s best X1 alongside Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and eight American players.

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